Dec 2, 2008

A great tasting, thick, hearty Italian soup, that is rich in fiber and nutritious. Great to make on a cold weeknight because it's super quick and easy to prepare.

I like pureeing the beans to get my picky kid to eat this, but if you prefer your beans whole, you can skip that step. Leftovers can be frozen. Serve this with a piece of Italian bread on the side and top with your favorite grated cheese. For an extra special treat, top this with a slice of melted Alpine Lace Swiss, delicious! Vegetarians can use vegetable broth instead.

This can also be frozen and reheated at a later time for make-ahead meals.

@Marisa - I am balancing between maintenance and weight loss. I cheated a bit this past week (Holidays) and have not been as diligent about going to the gym, so I am back on weight loss for now. I usually keep my breakfast simple (hard boiled egg, fruit) so I can eat a good dinner.

I loved Pasta Fagioli. My dad believe it or not made this once in a while. That and toast are the only things I remember him preparing. I have not had it in years. This is on the menu for dinner next week.

This soup is just as amazing as the Colombian Sancocho De Pollo you posted. This is one of the favorites and prides of many Italian family restaurant owners. I enjoyed this soup in a remoted but excellent trattoria in the Toscane province near Lucca. Delicious! Thanks for bringing back again sweet memories my friend!

Tried this just a minute ago - it's fantastic! Because there's two of us, I cut down on the amount of liquid and simmered it a bit longer, which seemed to make the base quite rich. And again, because we're vegetarian, we opted for the vegetable broth.

I should have noted the serving size. More than a cup, more like a large bowl. Very filling. I'll see if I can figure it out but if you make the recipe and divide it among 5 equal servings your points will be accurate.

I made this yesterday as soon as I saw it and realized I had all of the ingredients. Loved it then, love it more today after sitting for a day! I used one cup of pasta, and two cans of beans (pureeing one, draining the other and leaving them whole). Mine made six servings. Froze the leftovers in ziploc bags and brought it to work with me today. It's extremely filling and absolutely delicious.

A few questions: about the cannellini beans - drained? rinsed? or canning juices and all? Also, for clarity, the onion is supposed to be chopped? The 2 cups of water specified - the recipe only directs you to add one cup - is the other cup the "can" of water added to the beans prior to pureeing?

I'm making this right now and I had to pause for these three questions. I drained the beans to get rid of excess salt, but did not rinse, I finely chopped the onion, and I added the 2 cups of water in addition to the can of water, which I think was a mistake.

@Patrick, sorry for the confusion. Yes, you can drain the beans, then puree them with one cup of water. The second cup of water goes into the soup. There's really no right or wrong Kevin, it depends how thick you want it, you can adjust to taste. Did it turn out ok with the additional cup of water?

It didn't turn out "ok", it turned out GREAT! The soup was thickened perfectly, even with a little added water. Because I'm lazy, I cut the onions fairly large and, after sauteeing, just added the beans and water to the pot and went at it with the immersion blender. Semi-pureeing the beans is inspired - great body and mouthfeel without any added fat. This tasted like it was simmering all day, but took me even less time than the 30 minutes suggested. This soup will become a staple item in my home.

Haven't posted in a while because I've been really busy (for which I'm thankful, these days). However, I just wanted to say that last week I reached my halfway mark: 30 pounds lost. And this recipe is an important part of the reason. I always have some of this in the refrigerator - a snack, lunch, dinner with a salad - love it. It is especially great for us gardeners as we can throw in some green beans or zucchini or fresh tomatoes or chard or whatever and it's still perfect. Thanks.

When I figured out the points, I equally divided this among 5 bowls. I didn't measure in cups. If anyone makes this and knows how many cups this yields, please let me know so I can update. Otherwise, I'll just have to make it again!

Made this again tonight - probably the tenth time since March. Used the last of the zucchini which succumbed to TMV :( For those of you who have not tried this recipe, listen up: it's satisfying on a cold night but light enough to enjoy with the bounty of summer. A treasured recipe. Thanks, Gina.

Do you think there is any way I would be able to put this in the crock pot and have it ready for my husband when he gets home? ( I have to leave for work 3 hrs before he gets home) I am just not sure when to put the pasta in if it is in the crock pot. - thanks

I made this tonight for dinner, and my husband and I absolutely loved it! I will definitely be making this again. It was delicious! I had some of the same questions as Patrick, but I also noticed it doesn't say to add the carrot in, but I figured it out. :-) I didn't realize I was out of parsley until I was putting this together, so I used 1 Tbsp of Italian seasoning and left out the oregano and parsley. Thank you for the wonderful soup!

Just made this! Yum! Thank you.This is my second recipe I made from your collection in the last week. THANK YOU, I know it's alot of work keeping up a blog. Now I'm looking for my next recipe to make..

Excellent!! I make the Pasta Fagioli a day ahead of time (as always the pasta absorbed all the liquid), I then froze in 1 cup portions. I take them from the freezer (take just a few minute to thaw) then add a bit of water and I have a readymade meal. I would highly recommend this recipe to the “busy team”. And to my surprise the Pasta Fagioli was very filling. The only change I made was I used fresh herbs. Thank you for the excellent recipe.

I made this the other day for dinner and it turned out great. I have so much left over. I'm going to freeze it for quick lunches. Thanks for posting such wonderful delicious recipes. I have made several from your site. I look forward to coming to your website for great ideas. Thank you.

Thanks Gina for this wonderful soup recipe.Made it for supper and it was superb on a cold wet day yums the word.i made this for myself so I have leftovers to invite friends over.This is my first time on your site and I'm looking forward cooking some more surprises.Again Thank you GinaP.S.Love your photos tooFrom a happy CanadianCheryl

i just made this, i havent tasted it yet, cause its too early and i made it for dinner. however yours looks so much thicker and creamier than mine. mine looks more brothy. it smells wonderful though, im going to make garlic "bread" with my Flat Out Bread for 1 point to go with it. they should come out crispy and great for dipping. i have my zero to 5k training class today that im dreading, coming home to some soup afterward is the only thing im looking forward to!

This very different from the Pasta Fagioli my grandmother used to make or any that I've ever eaten in a restaurant. The canellini beans were never pureed, they were left whole. I think I would prefer it that way, but I'm curious to try this.

I made this soup late last night to have something ready for lunchy. Thumbs up this soup was delicious... While I was making it I put in all the seasoning, and I was thinking to myself that I am not going to like this because I couldn't even see the soup underneath all the seasoning gathering at the top of the soup....But surpise is delicious. I know that my kids will love this soup.

So I have to admit, I was doubting the soup as it was cooking! I just kept thinking to myself...man this is NOT going to fill me up! Well I was wrong :) I did however have an extra half serving b/c it was SO fantastic!! (And I hardly ate lunch in anticipation of the soup!! So I had lots of points!) My servings ended up being about 1.5 cups b/c I let it sit for awhile so I think the pasta soaked up a lot of the broth. I used broken spaghetti and great northern beans. Thanks for this fantastic recipe! Also, if I used Pam to cook the onions instead of the olive oil does it change the points value at all? Thanks!

@Ash, serving size depends on how much liquid evaporates, but it's between 1 1-2 to 2 cups per serving. Good news is the points are lower! I just added the calories, fat and fiber and I was happy to see it came to 5 pts per serving! Without the olive oil it's 4 points per serving. Enjoy!

Thanks for this recipe, I made it tonight and it was delish! I added some turkey kielbasa (2 pts), but it didn't need it honestly. It was a great dish and very filling. Can't wait to have leftovers at work tomorrow.

OMG...GOOD! I made this tonight for dinner for my "boys" ( a 5 and 3 year old and hubby)....it was a hit. I used wagon wheel pasta and told the boys we were have wagon wheel soup. They dove right in and there was nothing left in all 3 bowls! Thanks so much...this was delish!

I just made this last night!! It was AMAZING!! So flavorful and yummy and VERY filling. However when I did my calculations I only came up with 4pts per serving with 5 HEFTY servings!! Hmmm...which is even better. I love your site!! I've found so many great and easy recipes that make it easy for me to stay in line with my WW diet!! Thanks!!

Made this tonight and it was great! Enjoyed by all! My favourite part of the recipe is that it is easy to make quick! I didn't puree the beans mostly because I'm lazy but it was still awesome and made it faster which is important with two kids under 5!

Has anyone made this in the crock pot? I read through the comments and noted to add the cook pasta just before serving but for the rest of the recipe, would you just put everything in the crock pot and cook on low for a couple of hours? Nothing really needs to be "cooked", more like warmed.

I made this recipe today and thought it was great. Went together fast and I usually have all the ingredients on hand. Will be a go to for me. My husband liked it so much he opted to take it to work for his lunch instead of stopping to pick up a grinder. I think that's a 2 thumbs up. I have browsed the recipes on your site Gina and I will be cooking alot more of what your sharing. Thanks, Jeneen

Gina, this is AMAZING!!!!!! I want to thank you so much for your wonderful blog. I've been on WW for 2 years and so far am down a little over 60 pounds. I have 20 more to go, and your blog full of delicious foods has made my journey much easier (and much easier on my boyfriend since he doesn't have to eat "diet" food). Later this week I will be making your chicken ropa veja and your roast chicken with lemon and rosemary. I cannot wait for dinner! Thank you again! ~Nikki~

I made this along with your turkey meatloaf for this week's dinners and it was amazing! My only question- I added 1 1/2 cups dry pasta as it says, however, it then says 6 ounces. Wouldn't 1 1/2 cups be 10 ounces of pasta?

This was amazing! I doubled the recipe and placed the beans in the blender as was suggested...Everyone in my family loved it, I followed the recipe exactly, however added some red pepper flakes for spice... this one's a keeper...mmmmm

Thank you so much for all of the wonderful recipes! Your blog is like my cooking bible. I am not on WW but like to cook healthy meals for my family and my picky 2 year old LOVED this soup; my hubby even gave it a 10! I made your chicken enchiladas the previous night and the hubby didn't notice the low carb wheat tortillas (he actually has no clue all of the stuff I cook is "skinny" food). I really appreciate you sharing all of these recipes thank you for keeping my family trim ;)~Rose

It is a semi tradition on a cold rainy Sunday my boyfriend and I make soup. I just started WW this week, and today he stumbled upon your website and I cannot begin to tell you how this will certainly change my life! I love good eats, but figuring out points, ways to reduce fat etc is too time consuming. I just made this soup and ate my first bowl and I am hooked! this was so good. We left the beans whole, and it was pure joy!Thanks!

I made this last night for my husband and I...mostly because he loves the version from Olive Garden. I have tried other recipes for this before but this was by far my fave! I added a little turkey sausage in for his sake (cooked before) and a few red pepper flakes. I also used all dry herbs, other than the parsley. By the time we got back from a quick walk before dinner, it was almost more of a stew because of the noodles swelling up and was VERY filling! I'm kinda sad though...he took all the leftovers for his lunch! ha

This was the first recipe of yours I tried, and it's still one I go back to a lot. It's amazing how much filling food you get for the points! I've just recently started cooking, and I printed out a bunch of your recipes to try. Thanks so much for this wonderful blog!

This recipe is amazing! I have made it a few times and it never fails. I spent my day making 4 soups and freezing them into individual sized portions. I also made your split pea, minestrone, and escarole. Everything turned out really well. Now I have lunch ready for work and dinner for busy nights! Thanks so much! -Laura

I love this recipe, I make it twice a month in the fall and winter - yesterday we were invited to a "soup party" and everyone brings a soup, and then everyone tastes and votes....this came in third place (I won a bronze ladle, ha)!!! this is no small feat, the competition is strict! Don't worry, I gave you all the credit, I am sure your traffic will increase :) Thanks!!!

Gina--just wanted to say that I am absolutely loving your site and all of your recipes. I am a bit of a soup fiend, and every single one I have made has been delicious. When the weather cools off, I make a huge pot every Sunday and take leftovers to work all week. This one is definitely going into the rotation. Even hubby liked it (of course, I didn't tell him until AFTER that there were beans in this--hehe). Keep posting girl! :)

Just wondering if you could help me out - I was so excited to eat this soup, I accidentally put an entire box of pasta in the soup (16 oz) and now there is absoutely NO liquid left. I am so disappointed and I am not sure if I can save it. I love your site and everything I have made has been wonderful, but this was my own mistake. Anyone have any thoughts? I have already refigerated the pasta. Thanks for any help :)Valerie

I finally made this soup today even though I've been thinking about it for a while and let me just say: WOW! It's been cold and rainy out this week and I'm not a big fan of canned soup so I figured this would do the trick. It definitely did. Thanks so much!

This recipe was so good, I gave some to my brother and sister in law. She called me to say she LOVED this soup. Thank you for the time you put into this. I did not have celery, so added 2 carrots. Delicious. I did vote for you.

I have to say I tried this the other night and my family LOVED it. I added some ground turkey to the mix to make it more hearty (the boys in the family don't believe in meatless meals) and the next day when I had packed individual portions for me to take to lunch for the week, they were all gone. They told me this was definitely a keeper. Infact I am remaking it tonight (doubling the recipe so I actually will get to enjoy leftovers) and adding in shredded rotiserrie chicken in place of the ground turkey. Thank you for so many wonderful recipes! I have told so many of my friends about this site who are doing weight watchers and we all agree how fantastic everything tastes!

FIrst-time commenter, long-time fan! I just made this for lunch today and made a few adjustments. Added more celery and onions, less carrots (I don't enjoy mushy carrots), blended 3/4 of a can of beans and kept the 1/4 intact, added twice the tomato sauce and another 1 1/2 cup of water, and another 1/2 of pasta, as well as an additional 1/2 tsp of basil & parsley and another 1/4 tsp of oregano.

It actually sounds like a lot of adjustments, but I had fun with it! I love that cooking doesn't need to be as precise as baking. It did turn out to be a little thicker than soup, but we're big pasta fans in my house, so we definitely didn't mind.

THANKS so much to Gina and all the commentors! I've learned a lot from your adjustments and will continue to cook from Skinny Taste!

Great soup. Mine didn't come out thick - when I blended the beans I didn't use the liquid in the can. I used water. Maybe that's why? But the flavor was still good and 2 cups is a huge portion! Really great recipe. Thanks Gina :)

Hi Gina,Do you always use fresh herbs in your recipes? I wasn't sure whether to use fresh or dried basil/parsley/oregano. I am asking because I screwed up and used dried thyme instead of fresh thyme when I made your "Scalloped Potatoes Gratin". oops! Thanks!

Making this now. The only ingredient i changed was the tomato sauce, i used diced tomatoes because that's what i have. Easy to make. My hubby who is not on weight watchers said "it's really good". We ate with your Rosemary Garlic Parmesan biscuits, they were yummy! I know it will change the points value with the biscuit. I use your recipes to plan my meal. Thank you and keep up the good work.

I just made this for lunch and I am already looking forward to having more tomorrow! I also made sure the ingredients are on the shopping list, I have a feeling I will be making another pot soon. Another keeper, Gina, thanks!

I made this and added a can of garbonzo beans to it just because after I blended up the beans it looked a little lonely! I figure more fiber can't hurt! It's really yummy and the leftovers are even better than the first night!

on the stove as I type and it smells awesome ... looks a little thin, but I'm thinking if I leave it on the stove a little longer it will thicken up. and it looks like something that will be better the next day ... :)

I made this last night and it was wonderful! I used the immersion blender after adding the beans to the soup and I really like the half-blended beans. I had to add some more broth after I got my serving because the pasta had soaked everything up! I can't wait to try it again for lunch today!

I made this for lunch today. It was awesome! My husband and I are both following WW plan. He normally doesn't like soups because they are thin and not filling enough. He LOVED it. I didn't put the beans in the blender, but like the immersion blender idea and will try that next time. Y-U-M!

This is one of my go-to lunches...it's hearty and filling and DELICIOUS!!

One thing to note, however, is that when I make it, it comes to 5 cups total, so I get 5 servings of 1 cup each and when I calculate it on WW's site, it comes to 7 points per serving. Not sure why that is happening when I make it....any thoughts?

I have been making pasta Fagioli for years. my grandmother was from italy and I cannot tell you how many recipes i see for this with carrots and celery in it. this soup traditionally is just pasta, beans with either a white or a red broth. the broth is either made with garlic and tomato sauce or garlic and oil (pasta water)

This is the first of your recipes that I have tried and I'm DEFINITELY coming back for more. I'm a WW newby, and if I can continue to eat food that tastes like THIS, I'll stick to my program for life!

When I was first cooking it, it looked watery, and not at all like your creamy delicious photo, however, it reduced perfectly. Actually, I think I reduced it too much because it only rendered enough for 4 servings, instead of five. I added some more chicken broth to it as it got too thick, so that helped a little (I boiled it for 30 minutes before adding the pasta.)

WARNING! Do not add the pasta and then turn the heat up to high like I did. Everything will stick to the bottom and scorch! Luckily I caught mine on time. Just continue cooking it at the medium heat the whole time.

I made this last weekend while my Italian husband was out of town and I raved about how great it was. I was so excited to make something worthy of what he grew up with but with half the calories. I was expecting it to be even better the next day when he returned but I have to say it got bland. The pasta definitely absorbed a lot of the liquid and I think it took a lot of the flavor with it. I think next time I might set aside half of the soup without pasta and then add it later when we're ready to eat it.

I am going to make this tonight for dinner. We're having both my siblings and their spouses over. I was going to try adding beef as well, as that's what I remember from the Olive Garden version. Has anyone else done this? I have 7% fat ground beef on hand that I was going to use.

This soup was AWESOME! Thanks so much. I made only one adjustment. I used 28 ounces of fire roasted whole tomatoes in juice and didn't add the extra cup of water or cheese. I'm not sure if this made it better or worse since it's my first time making it, but YUM!

This soup is amazing! I made it last Sunday, and I made a double batch yesterday night. My husband, who is not dieting, can't get enough of this soup, and yesterday told me this was his new favorite! It is delicious, I think it might be my new favorite too!

As my ten year old left the table, he gave this a thumbs up, and said "Me gusta. Make again." (No idea why he's speaking Spanish, or where his manners went.) But, I'll definitely make it again! I used an immersion blender to puree the beans, and added a can of dark red kidney beans, too. Otherwise, I didn't change a thing. I think we'll end up with about 6 servings. Thanks for another winner!

I made this today and it turned out FANTASTIC!!! I love the version @ Olive Garden so when I found this I HAD to make it. It is so delicious. I feel like there is a lot of pasta in this and can't believe it's only 6 points plus per serving. I know the pasta is quite small when dry but they got pretty big once cooked. I'm not going to question it! I will definitely be making this again.

Making this for dinner tonight. I am not following WW any longer but I am counting using My Fitness Pal. I was excited to see quite a few of your recipes are in their database! I can't wait to try this tonight. It is cold, windy and just the right night for a yummy dinner like this :)

This is the 4th recipe I've tried from this site and they have all been amazing! My boyfriend and I have wanted to make drastic changes in our eating habits and the recipes here have been immensely helpful and delicious. I pick all the recipes I want to try and he picks 5 of those a week for us to make. Being able to create a recipe box and use the shopping lists to plan our meals for the week have essentially eliminated our last minute delivery ordering. Thank you so much, Gina. Your site is our new cooking bible. :)

I've been making Pasta Fagioli for years (never used chicken broth, just water) and I never realized it was weight watchers friendly! I just made this recipe for lunch tomorrow, and had to taste a little bit now. Once again, delicious! (I omitted the celery and carrot though because I don't like them).

Have this in the crockpot and the house mulls amazing! Will add pasta at the end! Thank you for so many great recipes. Found your blog brought Pintrest and have made several of your recipes since. All are amazing! You have helped me get back on track with my WW now that I have do many new recipes to try! Thank you!

Just made this...AWESOME and so filling! I used my Ninja blender to do the beans and next time I won't add as much water...made them into water in just three pulses. This is a GREAT recipe. Your site has inspired me to cook ...I'm 45 and have never considering myself a good cook...now I am on my way to being one! Thank You!

I made this tonight it was awsome, I added spinach, no celery, 1 can diced tomatoes & 1 can tomato sauce, 1 can puree beans, 1 can non puree all the rest the same. I could eat all of it, fantastic! Thank you!

Alright, I could not bring myself to read through all of the comments above! So please forgive me if this is a repeat question. My family prefers more of a "stew" style soup then something with lots of broth. What can I add to this for a thicker, chunkier shoup without adding a whole bunch of calories? Would a can of drained tomatos, more carrots and zuchinni be alright? Or perhaps something else? Thanks!

Gina, this has become one of our go-to recipes. We love it as is. But this last week, we decided to add a twist, we added 2 1/2 links of hot italian sausage crumbled and some kale. It was sooooooo amazing! I hope you'll try this twist!

I just made this recipe for dinner tonight and it is absolutely delicious! You won't believe how much the beans thicken the broth. That said, I'm not sure if I let it cook down too much, but I only got about four 2-cup servings instead of the 5 suggested by the recipe. That's okay for me, because I'm just cooking for 2 people, but if you have a bigger family, you may want to double the recipe. Thanks so much for this one, I've gotten SO many great recipes from your blog! :)

Gina, made this tonight and everyone liked it very much. I did accidentally add almost a whole tablespoon of oregano.... Great anyway! Thank you so much for the brilliant idea of blending up the beans. Kids didn't even know!! ha ha haaa

OMG this soup is amazing!!! I highly recommend using both 1 can tomato sauce AND 1 can diced tomatoes. If you had to choose one over the other I'd choose the tomato sauce. I tried the recipe with just diced tomato and not enough of the rich tomato flavor came through but this was solved by adding a can of tomato sauce :). Also, I eat gfree so I used corn-rice blend fusilli pasta (because that's what I had on hand). One other thing I did was use 1 carton low salt chicken broth (32 oz.) plus the extra water. I did this so I could use up the chicken broth and add more flavor. I used fresh basil and parsley because I had them on had. I used celery salt because I didn't have celery. Cooking is all about using what you have on hand while still trying to stay true to the original recipe. Great job Gina! :)

Made this in the Pressure Cooker in 10 minutes, then added my wheat ditalini and used the saute button so it could boil the pasta and the pasta was done in another 5 minutes, so total 15 minutes in the pressure cooker for those that use one, sooo delicious!

Guess I should have read the comments before making this, but it came out great anyway. Didn't know whether or not to drain/rinse the can of beans prior to putting in the blender (so I didn't). Added a 2nd can of beans (drained and rinsed, not in the blender) because I love beans. Delicious!!!

Made this today. Trying really hard to prep and freeze to get my weight going in a better direction. Love this recipe. I added 3 cups french green beans and 1 cup baby lima beans. Cannot thank you enough for this great website. It's really helping. I always say I have nothing but ingredients. Now I can look at your recipes and create healthy dishes.

This is my favorite pasta fagioli recipe. Delicious! I make this at least 3-4 times a month. It doesn't last too long in my house! Love Gina and all her recipes. I haven't made one I haven't enjoyed yet!

I use my family's ancestral recipe which is not soupy but thick. However, we buy a jar of sweet pickled small round peppers as an accompaniment and offer a good Italian bread. I love ciabatta bread. Very good eating.